Brits shower almost nine times a week

The type of job you do may influence how many showers you take a week, suggests a survey by business insurance website constructaquote.com.

The survey polled more than 3,500 British adults to find out their personal hygiene habits, and found the average number of showers we take each week is 8.5 (though admittedly, the survey was carried out during a spell of hot weather).

But which workforce showers the most? Top of the list was construction workers, who claimed to take an average of 14 showers a week. Those in the medical profession were second from the top, showering 13 times a week, followed by hospitality workers (11.5 showers weekly) and those working in the automotive/mechanical industry (10 showers weekly).

People working in the IT industry came bottom of the list, claiming to shower an average 5.5 times a week. They were closely beaten by education and real estate workers, who said they showered six times weekly.

However, the survey also asked people whether or not they washed their hands every time they used the toilet, with 17 percent admitting they didn’t. Thankfully the majority (61 percent) said they washed their hands with soap after every trip to the bathroom, but 22 percent claimed they just used water and no soap.

Hand washing with soap may arguably be more important than showering, since studies suggest the more you wash your hands, the less your risk of developing infections such as colds, flu and gastrointestinal illnesses. In fact, one recent study published in the medical journal The Lancet – which involved more than 20,000 British adults – confirms that more frequent hand washing leads to lower rates of infection.

Products such as hand sanitising gels and anti-bacterial wipes – which can come in very handy if you’re out and about and have no access to soap and water – are available at your local pharmacy. Your pharmacist can also advise you on the most effective shower products to use, particularly if you suffer from a dry skin condition such as eczema.

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